


Head over Heels

by bonezone



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Aged Up (High school), Eddie POV, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Sleepovers, The Cure, bev and eddie are good friends, reddie is the main pair the rest are background pairs, the cure is very prevalent in this fic lol, there's some description of neglect and parental abuse so heads up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2017-10-02
Packaged: 2019-01-08 02:56:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12245703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bonezone/pseuds/bonezone
Summary: Richie makes a mixtape for Eddie and Eddie most certainly isn't gay for Richie**Spoiler: he is, in fact, gay for Richie





	Head over Heels

**Author's Note:**

> A few things:  
> 1) I haven't read Stephen King's book so this is just based on the 2017 movie and also a few things that I saw on wiki when looking up background for this  
> 2) this was so fun to write wow I love these kids  
> 3) Richie CANONICALLY listens to The Cure (thanks Finn for that spotify playlist) and when I found that playlist, I honestly lost my mind  
> 4) this is aged up so they're around senior year in highschool

It was Friday, about midday. The second to last Friday in August, it felt kinda bittersweet. Summer was coming to an end and it was probably one of the last ones that he would spend in Derry with all of his friends. They were all heading into their senior year of high school. Middle school and high school had easily breezed by them, the twisted and clouded memories from events of the summer of ‘89 blissfully drifting away from them with each passing year. And now, Eddie and his friends were coming around the final stretch of high school before they all went off to college. Eddie sat at the ledge of the quarries, his friends lounging in the sun, banter bouncing back and forth between them.

Ben sat on a small, flat faced, boulder while Bill and Richie sat criss-cross style on the ground, debating which movies they would be watching on Saturday. Bill had coordinated a sleepover, all of them invited, at his house for the weekend. Stan and Mike were sitting adjacent to Eddie, their fingers gently intertwined, giggling among themselves. Beverly had set herself down near Eddie, laying with her head about a foot away from the edge of the quarry, her knees bent. She donned a red bikini and big, heart shaped sunglasses, soaking up the (soon to be gone) summer sun. 

Beverly’s aunt had decided to rent a small space in Derry, allowing her to stay with her friends, the woman had picked up on the fact that forcing a young teen to leave her newfound group of friends after the death of a parent might not have blown over so well in the long run.

Thank God for that, Eddie didn’t want to try to imagine where he would’ve ended up had it not been for Beverly. She and Eddie had grown close over the years since she had started hanging out with the group. Beverly was understanding, easy to talk to, definitely the person you could pour your heart out to and not have to worry about whether or not she would judge you for it. Eddie was very close with Richie, duh, but it just seemed weird to talk about some things with him. For example, Beverly could read people pretty fucking well, hence the reason why she knew that Eddie was gay. She was the only one of his friends that knew. 

He wasn’t very open about it towards anyone, Eddie tried to hide it, he really did, but the redhead easily picked up on it pretty quickly after she noticed that Eddie never lost his composure when Beverly would show up to go swimming in minimal amounts of clothing with the rest of them in the quarries. 

Or how if they were at a sleepover, Eddie didn’t seem to even notice when Beverly changed shirts, revealing her bra and semi bare chest which had sent the rest of their friends off like they were fucking cavemen who had just discovered fire. 

She asked him about it and Eddie hesitantly admitted that he didn’t feel like he would ever find a girl that would make him go apeshit like Richie or Bill or Ben did when Beverly took her shirt off. It made him feel wrong, his mother had always implied that Eddie was ‘delicate’ with a negative connotation, and it all finally became clear to Eddie what she meant when he put the pieces together. He clearly wasn’t interested in girls. And apparently his mom hated that. 

Beverly didn’t seem to give a shit though. To her, it was probably a relief to have a boy be able to not act like a complete and utter fool around her.

Sometimes, if Beverly focused hard enough, she could pick up on that fact the Eddie would stand just a _bit_ too close to Richie. She could even catch the look of infatuation in Eddie’s dark eyes whenever the taller boy playfully kissed him on the cheek or cupped his hands around Eddie’s face. 

Eddie and Beverly had a different relationship in that way, Eddie wasn’t exactly _dying_ to let Richie know that he didn’t like girls, for several reasons. One being that Eddie wasn’t keen on the idea of Richie making crude jokes about it left and right, especially in front of the rest of his friends. 

The fact that he was gay wasn’t what scared him, Eddie knew better than that. 

Because there was Mike and Stan. Sweet and gentle but steady Mike Hanlon alongside the neat, bird boy Stan Uris. Stan had ended up asking Mike to see the Batman movie later during the summer that Mike had first started spending time with the rest of them. Both boys were blushing and awkward messes but Mike, of course, said yes to the date and the rest was history. 

It wasn’t because Eddie wasn’t okay with being gay, or anything, but something just didn’t sit right with him about the possibility of Richie knowing that his best friend was gay because, one way or another, the little shit would find out that Eddie was, honest to god, head over heels for him. 

Wait, no. 

Eddie most certainly wasn’t head over heels for Richie fucking Tozier, no. 

Maybe?

Eddie couldn’t quite put a finger on it.

Sure, Richie insisted on being around Eddie, almost constantly, and sure he would kiss Eddie on the nose or the cheek or the back of his hand. But that’s just how Richie was, he was a big, dumb, stupid flirt.

And it didn’t make Eddie catch his breath or make his heart leap each time Richie kissed him.

No, they were just friends, very, very close friends. 

Probably. At least that’s what Eddie told himself.

Bill and Richie continued to argue, Richie had stood up from his previous stance, now flapping his hands around in grand gestures, in some sort of attempt to try to convince Bill of the benefits of watching the Star Wars trilogy for, undoubtedly, the 4th time this summer. Bill was clearly winning the argument, though. Richie tried to stare his friend down to no avail. 

“Okay, fine, we’ll have to settle this with a vote,” Richie insisted, he looked to Ben. The kid looked between Bill and Richie.

“Richie, I love Star Wars, you know that, but I’ve already watched it so many times,” Ben hesitantly sided with the other, earning a gleaming smile from Bill. “We should just let Bill pick.”

“Wow, okay, well fuck you too Ben,” Richie snorted, feigning spite, he turned to where Beverly and Eddie sat. “What say you, my dear Beverly?”

She lifted herself up, leaning back on the heels of her hands.

“Yeah, sorry Richie, Ben’s right. I don’t know how many more times I can watch those movies.”

“Mike, Stan? Do you guys wanna watch Star Wars?” Richie called out desperately.

“Huh? Sure, whatever,” Mike called out and Stan nodded in agreement with his boyfriend. 

The pair were obviously too absorbed in each other’s presence to give a shit either way. Eddie snorted. They were sickeningly sweet, he could physically feel his teeth rotting out from being around them. Beverly got up from her spot and stretched, shoving her sunglasses out of her face and into her hair. She offered a hand to help Eddie up as well.

“And that’s a tie! Looks like you’ll be the deciding vote, lover,” Richie was almost bouncing up and down where he stood.

Lover.

Richie had always given Eddie dumb pet names ever since he could remember. ‘Eds’, ‘Eddie Spaghetti’, sometimes even ‘my love’ but ‘lover’, that one had emerged after Gretta Keene had so lovingly written ‘LOSER’ onto Eddie’s cast in big angry letters. Eddie could hardly remember why he had a cast, he probably fell out of a tree or Richie probably did something stupid and got him hurt. 

But anyways, Eddie had put a big red ‘V’ over the ‘S’ to read something much kinder than what had been there before.

Richie said it was cute and insisted on scribbling a bunch of red hearts, using the same marker, onto the cast as well. He started calling Eddie by the nickname shortly after that and it stuck. 

Now, Richie was looking down at him, the boy was still a good 3 inches taller than Eddie, even in their late teens, under those stupidly huge coke bottle glasses. They were kinda cute, and in a weird way, they suited him. 

“Watching all three movies is gonna take the whole night, let’s just watch the last one. I haven’t seen it,” Eddie decided.

It was a lie. 

Who hadn’t seen Star Wars? Hell, he and Richie had even watched the whole series together in one night, both of them hopped up on caffeinated sodas and Junior Mints. But it gave the rest of their friends a reason to go along with it.

“F-f-fine, but I get to p-p-pick another one,” Bill said.

“Sure thing, Billy!” Richie whooped. 

He grinned a crooked smirk at Eddie, the one that made his knees weak, before putting his hands on Eddie’s face and planting a wet kiss on Eddie’s cheek. Except Richie’s lips landed closer to Eddie’s lips, rather than his cheek.

Eddie felt his face go flush as the other boy pulled away. Eddie wiped the kiss off his cheek, feigning disgust before he set his fingertips where Richie’s mouth had been, a little bit stunned. 

Beverly snorted as she saw how flustered Eddie had gotten. She took Ben’s hand into her own and started back towards the town, Bill, Mike and Stan following behind them.

“It’s Friday,” Richie hummed as he ironically looked at the watch on his wrist and then back at Eddie. “I’m in love.”

Eddie gave him a confused look as they trailed behind the rest of the group. Richie scoffed in disbelief.

“Friday I’m In Love? By The Cure? That’s my favorite band, Eds, you can’t tell me you’ve never heard that song.”

“Nope, sorry,” Eddie replied. 

Their hands brushed together as their steps synced with each other.

“What the _fuck_ ,” Richie gushed with drama, like he had just been stabbed in the gut. “You listen to Tears for Fears and Stevie fucking Nicks but you’ve never heard of The Cure.”

Eddie shrugged.

“I don’t really listen to the stuff on the radio,” he explained. “The only music I listen to is in the mixtapes Bev usually makes for me. I’m sure I’ve heard their stuff before but I wouldn’t know if I had. I tell Bev what I like from the ones she gives me and she makes another one with more stuff that she thinks I’d like.”

He had a whole shoe box full of tapes that Bev had made for him under his bed. Each one would have a dumb title or inside joke between them scribbled onto the case. Bill would make one for Eddie occasionally, but Bev was kinda his saving grace when it came to music. She listened to a lot of indie pop or grungey stuff and therefore so did Eddie, but he preferred the pop sound of Kenny Loggins, even Prince.

“How ‘bout I make you a mix then?” Richie offered. “I’ll put in some essential hits from The Cure.”

“Yeah, okay,” Eddie nodded.

“You have to promise to listen to it, okay?”

“I will.”

“Cool,” Richie replied. “I’ll drop it off later when I’m on my way to pick your mom up for a hot night on the town.”

“Oh, fuck off, Richie,” Eddie shoved him to the side, earning a snort of a chuckle.

* * *

Sure enough, a few hours after Eddie had finished dinner, the ping of the doorbell rang throughout his house. He bounded down the stairs, almost tripping, to get to the door before his mum answered it. Eddie opened the door, revealing a disheveled Richie. He looked like he had run to Eddie’s, house. Which he probably did, they didn’t live too far apart. 

Richie didn’t ever talk about it, but his family life was less than ideal and they probably didn’t have the funds to be able to buy a separate car for Richie. Though, Eddie was more than okay with driving with Richie to bring him to school or to anywhere he needed to be. He had saved up a good portion of money from a summer job and bought himself an older but reliable Ford car. She wasn’t the prettiest but she ran smoothly and efficiently.

“Heya good lookin,” Richie stepped in when Eddie opened the door. “Actually, I was expecting your mom to answer. But I guess that statement applies to you too.”

He winked and Eddie rolled his eyes. 

Sometimes the incessant, meaningless flirting got on his nerves. It only made him feel worse about the harsh reality of the stupid crush that he had developed for Richie. Eddie knew that his friend didn’t mean anything by it, but on a bad day it wouldn’t be unheard of for him to snap at his loud mouth of a friend for flirting too much.

“Anyways. Made this for you, lover. I gotta bounce, though,” Richie hurriedly shoved the tape into Eddie's hands. “Catch ya on the flipside, Eddie!”

And with that, the rugged teen bounded out of his house and down the street.

“Who was that?” Eddie’s mum called from the living room, not even bothering to look away from the television.

“Richie,” he answered.

His mum sniffed before waving a hand in dismissal. She had never liked Richie, Eddie couldn’t blame her, he was constantly flirting at her and she wasn’t a very tolerant woman. 

Ever since they were young, Richie always got himself into shit with adults. The kid had problems with authority and found himself in detention more often than not, sometimes he would get Eddie in trouble too. Like when they had math class together in the 10th grade and Richie had wolf whistled at the young new teacher, ‘a real looker’, he had called her. The teacher clearly wasn’t having any of it and sent both of the boys to detention even though Eddie took no part in it. Eddie pretended to be mad at Richie that day, wouldn’t even look at him during the hour they spent after school. 

He wasn’t actually mad, Eddie usually couldn’t find it in himself to be genuinely mad at Richie. Sure, he had gotten an earful from his mum that day, but he still wasn’t mad at Richie. Besides, it wasn’t his fault really.

Eddie turned the mixtape over in his hands when he stepped up the stairwell.

Richie had written ‘LOSER’ with a red ‘V’ in the title slot with a heart after it, mimicking Eddie’s cast from all those years ago. He also had taped a piece of paper onto the back, written on it was all the names of the tracks and albums.

When he got up to his room, Eddie closed the door and carefully peeled off the paper from the back and inserted the cassette into the player.

On the list, Richie had made a few comments in red ink. One of the songs, the first one that played, was titled ‘A Letter To Elise’ but Richie crossed out Elise and written Eddie just above the blurred out word. Another was called ‘Hot Hot Hot!!!’ which Richie had made an arrow to his comment, _this song was named after your mom_.

Eddie sat back and listened to the soft sound of the band. He was expecting a different sound from the band that Richie apparently adored. The Cure wasn’t loud or thrashing, which was a sound of music that Eddie knew Richie loved. They had studied together after school countless times, ‘studying’ being Eddie trying to get work done while Richie blared London Calling or anything by The Clash and reciting every lyric perfectly alongside his own improvised air guitar.

But this band wasn’t anything like the music that Eddie had expected. Their lyrics carefully chosen and meaningful. They were pretty much all love songs. There was a song on the tape that Richie had included that was simply called ‘Lovesong’. Richie was all over the board, apparently, when it came to music. And most other things too. 

And then there was the song that Richie had referenced earlier in the day, ‘Friday I’m In Love’. It was a sweet song, and again, something Eddie never expected his friend to tolerate or much less listen to.

It was a short mix, only 8 songs total, but Richie didn’t take a lot of time to make it. The mixes Beverly gave Eddie were more like 20 to 30 songs, sometimes longer, but it took her a few days or more to make it and write out the track names and artists. She made the lists for him to be able to star which ones Eddie liked so she could define his mixes even further.

The clock read 10:02 when the song finished and Eddie started to slip out of his clothes and into sweatpants and a loose T-shirt for bed. Eddie brushed his teeth quickly and went back into his room. He was about to turn off the cassette player when a soft saxophone melody, piano too, started playing.

Was this still by The Cure? It didn’t sound like them. It sounded like the music that they had learned about in history class, the stuff from the 1950’s.

_Eddie my love, I love you so_

No, this definitely wasn’t The Cure.

_How I've waited for you you'll never know_

Did Richie mean to put this song into the mix? It didn’t even sound at all like the songs before it.

_Please Eddie, don't make me wait too long_

It was probably a joke, yeah. Richie didn’t mean anything by it. The song ended, Eddie laid back in bed, staring up at the plain ceiling. He told himself that there wasn’t any reason that Richie had put that last song into the mix. Richie was just joking, like he always did. It was a bit of an obscure joke to pull but RIchie was just messing around. He had to be.

* * *

The next day, at about 8 o’clock in the evening, Eddie pulled up to Richie’s driveway to pick him up and bring them both to Bill’s house. Bill had let everyone know that he had rented Footloose, Back to the Future and, per Richie’s request, Return of the Jedi. 

Beverly had called Eddie earlier and asked if he thought that she should bring anything. 

She was in charge of snacks and she got chips, popcorn, Twizzlers and cheap soda but Beverly was asking if she should bring any weed or shitty beer too. Eddie let her know that he would probably have a fucking asthma attack if anyone smoked anything near him and let her know that any alcohol, no matter how weak, wouldn’t go over well. On one hand, it wasn’t legal and on another, Richie might have said he was fine with it, he might even drink some simply to create an image but Eddie knew that Richie would never, by choice, drink. Not after everything with his mom. 

He only supplied Beverly with the fact that it wasn’t legal for them to drink. It wasn’t his place to go off spilling Richie’s family issues to her. Eddie was the only one that Richie trusted to talk about it with. Even then, they hardly would talk about it.

The only reason that he knew was because of the time where Richie had gone to Eddie’s house, back when they were 12, after his mom had drank herself into a drunken rage and hit Richie. It was late November, there was snow on the ground. It had started getting dark that night, still, Richie walked to Eddie’s. The boy had thrown tiny snowballs with his bare, shaking hands, at Eddie’s bedroom window until he woke up. Eddie was a little mad at first but upon seeing the boy’s tear-stained face, seeing him shivering without a coat, Eddie let him in. He had made them both hot cocoa before they both wordlessly went back up to Eddie’s room and fell asleep, Richie was holding onto Eddie’s hand when they fell asleep. He held onto it like Eddie was the only thing that mattered to Richie, like he was the only thing in that room. Almost as if Eddie was the one thing that kept him anchored in this crazy, stupid life.

Maybe that was when Eddie had started caring for Richie in different ways than a friend would. He didn’t know, but Eddie did know for one thing that he never looked at the boy the same way after that. Richie’s obnoxious and outgoing personality was so clearly a desperate cry for attention, for the attention and love that his parents never gave.

It was another reason why they never went to Richie’s house after school. As difficult as his own mom could be sometimes, Eddie knew that it was worth it to his friend as long as they weren’t with his family. He spent most of his time at Eddie’s or at the quarries or anywhere his friends were. As long as he wasn’t alone or at his own house, Richie was alright. 

Richie bounded out of the door of his house and skidded to a stop at Eddie’s car door, planting his ass into the passenger’s seat.

“So did you listen to that mix?” Richie asked eagerly.

“Yeah, I did,” Eddie stated simply, the soft chorus of the last song rattling around in his head still.

“And? What’d you think?”

“I didn’t really expect you to listen to that kind of stuff,” Eddie started, putting the car into drive and starting them towards Bill’s house. “The sappy, love stuff.”

Richie laughed.

“Well, yeah, you got me there,” he agreed. “The singer, Robert Smith, I’d listen to his sweet voice all fucking day, if I could. The dude’s a vocal genius.”

* * *

Bill was busying himself by grabbing blankets and pillows for everyone so they could set up a comfy place for everyone in his living room. Beverly and Ben took the recliner, Beverly practically in Ben’s lap but they didn't seem to mind. Stan and Mike had taken comforters and fleece blankets, making a plush blanket nest at the base of the couch for them to curl up into. Eddie had pour out the food into separate bowls and brought the soda cans out for everyone, Richie spread himself across the couch, hardly leaving room for Bill and himself. 

“Okay g-g-guys,” Bill started as he put the movie in, and everyone went quiet to listen to him. “I put in F-f-footloose, then we can w-watch Back to the Future and then Return of the J-jedi because Eddie and Richie stay up later than the r-r-rest of us.” 

Eddie went to sit on the couch, a bowl of popcorn in his hand but Richie had impossibly taken up nearly the entire couch, only moving his feet so that Bill could sit down. Because Bill was so gracious to not only let them all stay over but also allow Richie to watch Star Wars, yet again. Richie laid on his back and moved to put his feet so they were almost, not quite, in Bill’s lap. 

“Move your long fucking legs, asshole,” Eddie demanded, throwing unpopped kernels of popcorn at him.

“Make me,” Richie taunted and stuck his tongue out like the mature (almost) adult that he was, shielding himself from the kernels with his arm.

Eddie huffed and sat directly on top of Richie’s abdomen. The boy underneath him wheezed with laughter and surprise, Bill snorted. 

“Fine, fine, get your ass off me, you heathen! I’ll move.”

He stood up from Richie’s stomach and waited for his friend to sit in a normal position so Eddie could sit between Bill and him.

Everyone cheered as the opening scene for Footloose began to play.

* * *

After the movie ended, Mike was the first to fall asleep, it was hardly 10 o’clock and that boy was out like a light. Stan placed a blanket over his sleeping boyfriend before curling up beside him like the lovebird he was. Bill moved to switch movies while Ben and Beverly went back into the kitchen and came back a short time later with a shit ton of Twizzlers and Cheezits. Eddie got up to get himself a glass of water while Richie went over to Beverly to swipe some Twizzlers away from her. He was successful but it got him a slap on the hand from the redhead.

Eddie got himself a glass from a cabinet in Bill’s kitchen, filled it up with tap water and went back into the living room.

Bill had laid down across the couch, taking up two of the three couch cushions. Back to the Future was already started, so there was no use trying to convince Bill to move, let alone do anything but watch the movie.

“Well, Eds, looks like you're either sitting here,” Richie patted his hands on his thighs. “Or on the floor.”

“Bill, can’t you move over,” Eddie tried before being hushed by him.

“Oh, come on Eddie, just man up and sit in Richie’s lap,” Beverly teased as Ben nuzzled his face into her neck, sleepily. 

Eddie turned his head to her and flipped her off before setting his glass of water onto the side table next to the arm of the couch, ‘man-ing up’ and sitting on Richie’s jeans-clad thighs. Eddie was surprised when Richie didn’t say a word, which was very out of character for him. Richie had not been expecting his friend to _actually_ sit in his lap, but he soon set his chin on Eddie’s shoulder so he could see the television and wrapped his arms around his friend’s torso.

* * *

Normally, Richie had to be moving all the time. Whether he was bounding his knee up and down or playing with the fabric of his shirt or simply touching each of his fingers to his thumbs, the boy couldn’t sit still. When Eddie was in his lap, his fingers pinched at the loose fabric of Eddie’s shirt. Richie’s fingers gently rubbed against Eddie’s side through the fabric and Eddie yipped and nearly jumped out of his skin. Richie stared at him in awe, Bill stirred in his sleep from the movement. Ben was the only one still awake, a dozing Beverly in his lap, but he looked ready to fall asleep as well.

“Eddie Kaspbrak,” Richie breathed with a shit-eating grin. “Are you fucking ticklish?”

“No. I’m not ticklish, you dick,” Eddie struggled to free himself from Richie’s arms around his waist. “Leave me alone.”

“I think you are,” Richie kept his arms around Eddie’s waist, moving his fingers back to the boy’s sides.

“Get your fucking hands off me or I swear to god, I will scream so loudly that you’ll go fucking deaf.”

“Damn Eddie, that’s hot. You really know how to get a guy all hot and bothered.”

Eddie flushed and furiously swatted at Richie, finally prying his friends hands away from him. He scrambled off the couch, fully prepared to sit on the floor for the rest of the night.

“Aw, c’mon, lover, don’t be like that,” Richie hummed.

Eddie ignored him and took one of the blankets from the floor and wrapped himself up in the soft fabric.

“I’m serious, you can sit back down. I won’t tickle you, I promise,” Richie all but begged. He looked up at Eddie, his face dimly lit by the light of the television, his dark eyes pleading him to give in.

How could he resist that fucking face. Eddie unwrapped the blanket from around himself and hesitantly returned into Richies lap and spread the blanket out over them. This time, he allowed himself to lean back against the steady rise and fall of his friend’s chest. Richie rested his hands across Eddie’s torso, careful not to touch his sides, and leaned his head against Eddie’s.

* * *

“Eds, Eddie, wake up,” Richie whisper shouted, drawing Eddie out of his sleep. “I gotta pee, I’ve been downing those Pepsis like no fucking tomorrow and also I’m hungry. You’re gonna need to get up, love.”

Eddie let out a groan of distaste, it was so warm and comfy, he just wanted to sleep more. Richie twisted his whole body, disrupting the possibility of Eddie falling asleep again. He blinked and got up, taking the blanket with him. Richie darted to the nearest bathroom faster than Eddie’s still asleep brain could comprehend. He meandered into the kitchen, bringing his glass of water with him, and stood at the countertop waiting for Richie to come back.

Speak of the devil, the wide awake teen stumbled back into the kitchen and started rummaging around Bill’s kitchen cupboards for something to eat. 

Eddie simply watched him, it wasn’t a surprise that Richie was this hungry at midnight, or whatever time it was. His parents didn’t seem to give a shit about Richie, sometimes forgetting to even get food other than leftovers for their growing son. While Eddie knew how bad for one it was to eat at such a late hour, he didn’t feel like he should say anything about it, Richie probably didn’t give a shit either because food was food.

He had settled for making two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a glass of milk. Richie offered one of the sandwiches to Eddie, he politely declined and just carried his own glass of water back into the living room, swiping a few paper towels and handing them to Richie so he wouldn’t get crumbs all over Bill’s couch.

Richie sat down in the same spot on the couch and practically inhaled the first sandwich, giving himself the hiccups, while Eddie removed the second movie from the player, putting in Return of the Jedi. Richie took a sip of milk and tipping his head forward before swallowing it, to get rid of his hiccups. He looked pretty ridiculous. But as soon as Richie got rid of his hiccups, he went back to happily eating the second sandwich. 

Eddie’s heart ached, he didn’t quite know why. There were so many nights where it was always like this, the rest of their friends passing out at some normal time but Eddie and Richie staying up, Richie often eating an entire meal at a bewitching hour.

“It's such a gorgeous sight, to see you eat in the middle of the night,” Eddie remembered the lyrics to the song Richie had put in his mix.

Richie paused from where he sat and looked up at Eddie.

“Did you just quote The Cure to me?”

Eddie nodded with a sleepy smile. Richie wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and let out a soft laugh. That was gross. Eddie scrunched his nose up and handed another paper towel to his friend. Richie took it with a roll of his eyes and used it to wipe his mouth and hands after he finished the sandwich.

Richie outstretched his hands, leaning back into the couch cushion and encouraging Eddie to sit in his lap, facing him. Eddie wasn’t so asleep now. Star Wars was playing in the background, but he kinda tuned it out as he slid into Richie's lap, his thighs straddling Richie’s. He set his hands hesitantly on Richie’s shoulders, his friend’s hands going to his own waist.

“What are we doing?” Eddie whispered. “Why did you put that last song in that mixtape you gave me?”

“Eddie, my love,” Richie started, leaning in a bit closer. Eddie was just a little bit taller than him when they sat like this. “I think you ought to know by now why I put that song in there.”

He was about to further question him before Richie leaned in and kissed him. Eddie made a noise of surprise before closing his eyes. He hadn’t kissed anyone like this before, he didn’t know what the fuck he was doing. But Richie took the lead and moved their mouths together, softly at first.

It was clumsy and Richie’s glasses got in the way a little bit, but Eddie didn’t mind. It was a damn good first kiss.

He pulled away, looking into Richie’s eyes. They were both panting slightly, Eddie kinda felt like he was about to have an asthma attack, but it wasn’t the exact same feeling. He felt something entirely new. Eddie moved his hands from Richie’s shoulders to cup his cheeks. The boy beneath him was grinning like a fool and Eddie couldn’t help but smile back.

Richie moved his arms to pull Eddie into a hug, burying his head against Eddie’s neck. He hugged him back. Eddie curled up into the other’s lap and leaned back, his heart fluttering. Richie’s hand carded through his hair, Eddie hummed in content and allowed himself to relax into the touch. 

He might’ve been right.

Yes, he was right.

Eddie was indeed head over heels for Richie. There was no denying it.

**Author's Note:**

> the song that Richie snuck into that playlist is called Eddie My Love by The Teen Queens and :')
> 
> anyways, hope you enjoyed and leave a comment/kudo if you did!!


End file.
